The Sentinels these ancient stones will tell us our love must make us strong

It was instinct to protect the bright creature that so easily matched the Otherworld— the forbidden place. From nothingness, lights and shapes emerged, but the change had been so gradual that little Emaleth simply believed that this was how it had always begin. She had already Forgotten, and this new hazy world was beginning to imprint over the lives she had before.

The Source had become the Giver and Bringer, and this seemed natural to the eldest. It hardly changed things for her at all, for they seemed to be one and the same. Two sides of the same coin. Belonging to each other, part of each other, just as she was part of the bright shape that was her sister. They each had their roles, but neither was more or less important than each other; but if they were apart, the world was broken, and so Emaleth protested when either parent was not present with she and her sister in the den.

There were others, and Emaleth tolerated them, but they were no replacements for her sister or parents.

She hardly noticed the pain in her gums, though she had similarly taken to chewing. The dark babe was more concerned with keeping her sister calm and assured, as she had even in their earliest days. Emaleth abided the pain with an unnatural stoicism, though her slumbers were fitful and she was less tolerant of change— that, in particular, being out of character for the child.

Emaleth was intrigued by the Otherworld, but she was not particularly determined to venture near it. The closer she moved towards the bright light, the colder she became— and so she contented herself with tumbling about the inner corners of the den, only venturing near the threshold when it was time to herd her sister back into the depths.

She was contenting herself with a small tuft of fur, batting it and chasing it in a very catlike manner. If the Giver and Bringer were inviting the children to venture into the Otherworld, Emaleth had no interest. So intent on her solitary game, she hadn't noticed how near her sister drew to it— nor that their shoulders were no longer touching, as had been their way.

There were many changes, and so subtle in her developing mind that Emaleth hardly noticed the changes at all.